Fron the AP:
DALLAS - Gov. Rick Perry railed against the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday, saying its inaction is putting tens of thousands of hurricane victims at risk of getting evicted and preventing law enforcement from knowing which of the evacuees are dangerous criminals.
In a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, who oversees FEMA and was visiting the state Tuesday, the Republican governor also accused the agency of treating Texas hurricane victims differently from Louisiana residents affected by Hurricane Rita.
"Natural disasters recognize no state boundaries, and neither should FEMA," Perry wrote. "Texas is willing to work and do our part, but FEMA has to sit down and come up with a long-term, thoughtful plan."
Speaking at a news conference in El Paso late Tuesday, Chertoff said he had not seen the letter, but he praised Texas' response after hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Chertoff said he recognized the need to get help to the region quickly, but added that "the scope of what we had to do" with hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma was "beyond anything we've done before."
Perry's letter came on the same day that the Texas Apartment Association pleaded with FEMA for federal payment of evacuee rent. Perry cited a survey by the group that estimated 15,000 evacuees could face eviction this month.
More than a quarter-million refugees were relocated to Texas after Katrina. Up to 175,000 are thought to be living in Texas apartments now.
"The federal government, ultimately, is going to have to come up with some kind of plan on what to do with those folks," Perry spokesman Robert Black said.